North Somerset Athletic Club runners produced some excellent results in the Gwent Cross Country League.

North Somerset Athletic Club’s cross country squad had their best collective results of the season on a testing track in atrocious conditions at Park Bryn Bach, Tredegar.

The Under-11 girls faced a howling wind and driving rain on the start line, but this did not deter bottom age Sophie Carratt who showed grit and determination to finish a superb sixth place in leading her teammates home.

An amazing turnout of 16 Under-11 boys braved the conditions with Joel Martineau leading the boys home with a fantastic fourth place. Harry Shallcross 23rd, Ben Collins 24th and young Alex Liddell in 32nd displayed great team running to ensure a probable top three finish on the day.

The Under-13 girls secured a great team result with Keira Devereux finishing second, incredibly after losing a shoe in bog like conditions at the start of her race.

Millie Redman claimed a fantastic fifth place, with Blythe Jones having a tremendous run for her best finish of the season in eighth place after out-sprinting two girls in the final 50 metres.

Debutant Ottilie Hoddell had a terrific first race for the club as the A team’s fourth scorer in 43rd place. Harriet Brown 45th, Lyla Briffitt 57th, Hanna Wilson 61st, Emily Freeman 65th with Ellie Siegle in 67th completed the team scores.

Sam Holloway again led the Under-13 boys with an excellent 13th place and lower age Herbie Cooksley having a tremendous run just two places behind in 15th.

Another lower age athlete Patrick Hipkiss again showed his potential with a solid 23rd, followed by Elliot Jeston to complete the A team scores in 28th.

Zeki Harston took a heavy fall in the mud but rallied to finish 36th with debutant Liam Murray 41st, Kyle Burford 47th, Joseph Sandiford 48th and moving slickly through the field Jacob Forsbrook took a tenner off his father to secure a top 50 finish in fine style.

Alice Bridger-Morales in a top-class field of runners scored a fine 12th place finish, with the Hallett sisters Josephine and Isabel having terrific first races for the club in 14th and 15th respectively.

Lower age athlete Abigail Taylor is starting to show her potential and her best finish to date saw her record a superb 23rd place to give the A team their best team score of the season so far.

Mary Hemmings in 25th and Holly Avery in 26th worked superbly together with debutant Isobel Gray in 32nd.

Poppy Burton-Dickie returned for her first race after a long injury lay-off and should be well satisfied with 35th place. Connie Rawlings finished 40th, with Alysha Forsbrook ploughing her way through the field to record a seasons best 42nd.

Ever-improving Will Scott continues to impress with a superb fifth place in the worsening conditions. A delighted Louie Brunsdon had his highest placed finish to date to finish 12th, with Ollie Campbell close behind in 19th.

Ollie Andrews had a cracking run for his highest Gwent League finish in 23rd as the fourth scorer.

Charles Broadhurst was another of the boys to run well in the conditions for a solid 28th, while newcomer Darwin Maufe will be delighted with 32nd in his first country event. Ben Morgan completed the team scores in 44th.

Arguably the best was left until last with the Under-17 boy’s squad showing their great strength in depth.

It was a joy to watch Sam Gentry return to form, as he relished the difficult conditions to run his best race for a long while in the combined Under-17/20 race.

Sam loves the combination of mud, hills, wind and rain and cranking up the pace in the last quarter he eased himself away from the leaders to win the race in fine style.

Bottom-age Alfie Hocking continues to impress with successive seventh place Gwent League finishes, while Matt Howard in his first country race of the season finished close behind in ninth after recovering from a fall near the end.

Callum Smith finished 10th overall, which should see him as a top five Under-20 finisher on the day, while Ollie Lock’s hard fought 19th place should see the Under-17’s finish top team on the day, at the same time closing the gap on Westbury Harriers and Cardiff AC above them.

Ben Hamblin had another good run in 22nd with Will Cheek 31st, Jamie Carroll, in his first outing in a long while, an excellent 35th, Max Davies 43rd, Theo Edwards 48th, Callum Day 49th, Jamie Pass 55th, Alex Collins 56th and Flynn Pankow 61st to complete the scores.

Clevedon’s Jo Gallagher ran strongly through the boggy conditions for her highest finish to date of 29th in the ladies’ race before the Under-17 girls finished the days proceedings in the with Ellie Redman leading the girls home in 23rd, Ellie Maule 26th, Maisie Squire 28th and Vicky Pearson completing the team scores in 33rd.